There, he found a copy of Critters, which inspired him to attempt drawing comics seriously. While stationed at Camp Pendelton in California he had access to real comic shops and started reading a lot of comics, both anthropomorphic and non.

Ted Sheppard is an avid weapons enthusiast and gun owner/collector, with a large cache of mostly historical (functional) firearms and uniforms.[2][3] He is a member of the Tucson Mob.

One day by chance Shep went to San Diego, California for the weekend, and came across the San Diego Comic Con which was still rather small at the time. The following year, he returned, this time taking notice of the furry fandom and visiting the Furry Party at a hotel after the con. Here he was introduced to fanzines, which he soon became active in. These eventually lead to drawing for Furrlough.

The investigation led officers to a residence in the 1600 block of West Woodbridge Court, where, in December 11, 2013, a search warrant was served at the domicile with the assistance from the U.S. Marshals. During the service of the search warrant, detectives located Sheppard's large collection of weapons, and numerous potential explosive devices, inside the home.[5]